A pilot program in Massachusetts offering universal school meals would be extended through the end of the 2023-2024 school year as part of a supplemental budget proposal filed Friday by Gov. Maura Healey.

The $734 million proposed spending plan includes $171 million for the state-funded school meals program.

The proposal also directs the state Office of Education to report by early next year on options to extend this program into the future, including looking for ways to tap into federal funds to help pay for the meals. The administration had earlier requested funding to continue the program through the current school year, according to Healey.

‘The universal school meals program has proven to be a success in expanding access to nutritious meals for all students, and it’s essential that we keep it running,’ Healey said in a press release.

The move comes as states have grappled with the end of a pandemic-era federal aid program that made school meals available for free to all public school students — regardless of family income levels.

California and Maine made universal meals permanent in 2021. Last year, Colorado voters approved a ballot measure to provide free meals for all public school students,

Other states are weighing expanded or universal meals programs.

Vermont — which opted last year to continue the free meals for all public school students for another year using surplus state education funding — is considering a bill that would make universal free school meals permanent.

Healey’s supplemental budget plan also includes $20 million to help the beleaguered Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recruit and retain employees — money that would help increase hiring bonuses, boost entry-level pay for bus operators and develop a marketing campaign to support hiring efforts.

Worker shortages at the transit authority has contributed to a slew of problems, including a slowdown in subway trips during rush hours.

The proposed budget also would triple the operating budget of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to help pay for the state’s continued push for clean technology and decarbonization efforts. It also includes $2 million for the state’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

The budget plan now heads to state lawmakers.

The Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday reinstated a lawsuit that challenged provisions of a voting law enacted in 2021 that opponents argue is unconstitutional and limits voting rights.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Loud Light, the League of Women Voters of Kansas, the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

They challenged provisions of a law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that limit how many advance mail ballots individuals can collect and require election officials to match the signatures on an advance ballot to a person’s voter registration record.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said Friday he would appeal the ruling.

Supporters of the law argued that restricting individuals from collecting and returning more than 10 advanced ballots per election would reduce ‘ballot harvesting’ and limit voter fraud. Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the measure, but lawmakers overrode her veto.

The unanimous opinion Friday, written by Judge Stephen Hill, said the two provisions impair the right to vote.

‘It was by free elections that we gained statehood. Thus, voting rights are preserved in the Kansas Constitution,’ Hill wrote. ‘Great care must be taken when trying to limit or infringe on those rights. Voting was important then. Voting is important now.’

The court sent the lawsuit back to Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson, who originally dismissed it in April 2022 after finding the restrictions were reasonable. The ruling does not strike down the law. But it requires Watson to review the lawsuit using ‘strict scrutiny,’ which is the highest standard of legal review.

Kobach called the ruling ‘the most radical election law decision in the country.’ He said the signature verification requirement protects people from having their votes stolen. He did not address the provision limiting the collection of ballots.

‘It is clearly wrong,’ Kobach said in a statement. ‘The decision is directly contrary to what the U.S. Supreme Court has said, as well as what every state supreme court has said on the matter.’

Davis Hammet, executive director of Loud Light, noted the ruling did not address whether the law is constitutional but said it was still a victory for voters.

‘It clarified the right to vote is a fundamental constitutional right and said when election laws are challenged the courts will apply the highest level of scrutiny to those laws,’ Hammet said.

Hammet said the ruling is especially important in the aftermath of baseless claims that the 2020 election was not valid, which prompted a wave of misinformation and voter suppression laws across the country.

‘What the court said here is (lawmakers) can’t just restrict the right to vote,’ he said. ‘If you have a restriction, it has to be there for a compelling reason. You have to show you’re not just stopping people from voting or having their votes count.’

Jacqueline Lightcap, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said the ruling supports many arguments that voting advocates have been making since 2021.

‘We think the judge has some excellent points in saying voting is fundamental right and the earlier case was rushed out of district court,’ Lightcap said. ‘We’re very excited to have the chance to get it heard again.’

Secretary of State Scott Schwab said his office was reviewing the decision but said it ‘appeared to be a substantial change to the judicial standard of reviewing state election laws.’

Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican from Wichita, called the decision ‘shocking’ and said it endangers all current election integrity laws.

‘I am confident that Attorney General Kobach will swiftly appeal this egregious decision and Republicans in the House will support his efforts in every possible way,’ Hawkins said.

The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments last month on another provision of the law, which makes it a crime to impersonate election officials. Opponents said the provision would make it difficult to conduct voter registration drives.

Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday urged the operators of a large western North Carolina paper mill set to shutter to find a way to keep it running, saying a closure would have a ‘devastating effect’ on the region and its people.

Pactiv Evergreen announced last week that it expected to close its Canton mill during the second quarter as part of a restructuring of its beverage merchandizing operations. About 1,100 employees are expected to lose their jobs.

In a letter, Cooper asked Pactiv Evergreen USA CEO Mike King to ‘explore all options’ to keep the mill operating, whether through a sale, repurposing of the plant, or through any other means.

The mill ‘has been in operation for more than a century and has been the lifeblood of that town and region,’ Cooper wrote. ‘Our priority remains to support the people affected by this unexpected closure by providing any available resources to their relief and recovery.’

The company said in its March 6 announcement that about 1,300 positions would be eliminated with the closing of the Canton mill and a converting facility in Olmsted Falls, Ohio.

Cooper also put the company on notice that the state would seek to recover $12 million in state-funded incentives received to keep the mill operating if it closed.

A Job Maintenance and Capital Development grant agreement announced in late 2014 between the state and two subsidiaries required the company to retain at least 800 full-time workers through the end of 2024, according to Cooper.

‘If you follow through your announced plans, we will demand full repayment of those funds,’ Cooper wrote.

Attorney General Josh Stein on Thursday sent a separate letter to King that went further, demanding his company repay the grant funds immediately based on ‘the company’s clear intent to breach’ the agreement. Stein also reminded King of Pactiv Evergreen’s responsibilities to address any outstanding environmental issues at the mill site.

Local officials have pledged resources to the workers who are expected to be laid off. Cooper’s state government budget proposal released on Wednesday recommended $5 million be set aside to support employee and community needs in Canton. The budget document said any incentives clawed back from the two subsidiaries would be used to help Canton.

Numerous Mar-a-Lago staff members have been subpoenaed as part of an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to Fox News.

The source did not know the exact number of staff members who were issued court orders.

CNN reported that Trump’s communication aide Margo Martin appeared before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, though she declined to answer questions when approached by one of the media company’s reporters.

Special counsel Jack Smith is handling investigations into Trump over the FBI’s discovery of classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida, home at Mar-a-Lago, as well as his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

According to CNN, Smith is looking for testimony from people in Trump’s inner circle, including Mar-a-Lago staffers, seeking an insight into things they may have seen or heard while working at the estate.

Sources told CNN that legal services for the staffers are being paid for by Trump entities.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to investigate the entirety of the criminal probe into the unlawful retention of national defense information at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

In the role, Smith will oversee the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether he obstructed the federal government’s investigation into the matter.

On Aug. 8, FBI agents raided Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago and seized classified records, including some marked as top secret, according to a warrant and property receipt.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed the warrant, giving agents the authority to seize ‘all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed’ in violation of U.S. Code, including documents with classification markings and presidential records created between Jan. 20, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021.

The property receipt showed FBI agents took approximately 20 boxes of items from the premises, including one set of documents marked as ‘Various classified/TS/SCI documents,’ which refers to top secret/sensitive compartmented information.

Classified documents have also been found at the homes of President Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, and the Justice Department is handling investigations into those discoveries, as well.

Democratic lawmakers unveiled plans Thursday to largely eliminate the use of cash bail in Wisconsin, clashing with Republicans who proposed a constitutional amendment to make it harder for people to get out of jail before trial.

The Democratic proposal, which almost certainly will not pass the Republican-controlled Legislature, would rely on risk assessments to allow most defendants to be released from jail before trial.

Democrats presented the plan as an alternative to a proposed constitutional amendment Republicans placed on the April 4 ballot that would allow judges to consider the criminal histories of people accused of violent crimes when setting bail. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers cannot veto the amendment if it is ratified by a majority of voters next month. The measure’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard, said it will allow judges to set higher bail amounts for people they deem a risk to public safety.

But criminal justice advocates warn it could worsen crime rates and increase disparities between rich and poor. Research on bail shows that people who are detained before trial are more likely to plead guilty, often accepting plea deals to end their detainment, and more likely to be unemployed in the years after their release. It’s not uncommon for people to lose their jobs and even their homes while in jail awaiting trial.

‘Incarceration for just a day or two can destroy a person’s life for a crime they may not have even committed,’ Jon McCray Jones, a policy analyst at the ACLU of Wisconsin, said at a news conference Thursday announcing the Democratic bail measures.

Meanwhile, the Republican bail plan came one step closer to completion on Thursday when the Senate judiciary committee voted 5-3 along party lines to approve a bill defining what offenses would be considered violent crimes. The bill will only go into effect if the proposed amendment is approved by voters.

The Republican bill is scheduled for an Assembly vote Wednesday. It must also pass the Senate and be approved by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to take effect.

Opponents have criticized the list of crimes proposed by Republicans as too extensive. It includes offenses such as watching a cockfight or leaving a firearm where a child gains access to it.

‘It could be devastating to us as a state and our prison and jail population will move out of control,’ said Jerome Dillard, executive director of Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, or EXPO. The group lost a lawsuit last month seeking to block the bail amendment from the April ballot.

It’s not clear what crimes Democrats plan to include in their own list of violent offenses that could preclude someone from being released before trial. Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that they had not finished writing their proposals. Rep. Ryan Clancy, who is sponsoring the plan alongside Sen. Chris Larson, said it would likely not include misdemeanors.

Fourteen Republican lawmakers who have their pilot’s license are calling on President Biden to withdraw his nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration because he has ‘zero aviation experience.’

‘While Mr. Washington honorably served our nation in the Army, he did not serve in an aviation unit,’ the lawmakers wrote in a Thursday letter to Biden. ‘He is not a pilot, has zero aviation safety experience, and is entirely unqualified to lead the federal agency responsible for keeping the flying public safe.’

The Republicans pointed out that federal law requires the FAA administrator to have ‘experience in a field directly related to aviation,’ and said Biden’s nominee, Phil Washington, doesn’t make the cut.

‘The FAA cannot afford to be led by someone who needs on-the-job training, especially at a time when our aviation system is facing tremendous safety challenges such as multiple near-misses by airlines and the first nationwide ground stop of aircraft since 9/11,’ they wrote.

Signatories to the letter said they have collectively logged thousands of flight hours, including some for the military. But they said Washington ‘has never flown a plane, never worked for an airline or an aircraft manufacturer, and never served as an air traffic controller.’

‘His aviation experience is limited to working at the Denver airport for less than two years,’ they wrote, referring to his current role as CEO of the Denver International Airport. ‘In that role, Mr. Washington is primarily responsible for non-aviation matters, such as the airport’s shops, restaurants, parking, and buildings.’

The letter was signed by Sens. Ted Budd of North Carolina and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, along with 12 ‘congressional aviators.’

Washington’s lack of experience in the aviation industry led to tough questioning from Republicans in the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, urged senators to investigate his background further and has called Washington ‘woefully unqualified.’

Cruz predicted last week that Washington would have trouble winning the votes for confirmation.

The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote next week on Washington’s confirmation. A successful vote there would send the nomination to the Senate floor.

The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday again rejected an attempt to revive charges in the Flint water scandal, ruling in favor of former Gov. Rick Snyder who was indicted on misdemeanors.

The attorney general’s office has repeatedly tried to convince judges that a landmark decision last summer from the Michigan Supreme Court didn’t actually doom the Flint water prosecution. But prosecutors continue to rack up losses.

In Snyder’s case, the appeals court swept aside the state’s appeal in a one-sentence order.

Snyder was governor in 2014 when Flint, under state management, began using the Flint River as a water source. But unlike the previous supply, the water wasn’t treated to reduce the impact on old pipes, unleashing lead throughout the city.

Snyder, who left office in 2019, was indicted on two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty.

The state Supreme Court last June unanimously said a one-judge grand jury can’t issue indictments. As a result, charges have been dismissed against Snyder, former health director Nick Lyon and six others.

The attorney general’s office, however, isn’t giving up. It’s now asking the Supreme Court to take yet another look at Lyon’s case. He is blamed for some Legionnaires’ disease deaths in the Flint area during the water switch.

The case has been a ‘mess caused by the overly zealous prosecution,’ Lyon’s attorneys said in a recent filing.

EXCLUSIVE: The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is raising questions about the funding source for the Penn Biden Center, and specifically whether foreign money might have found its way to President Joe Biden’s former think tank.

The Penn Biden Center is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, and on Wednesday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., wrote to the university to ask several questions about how money flows between the two entities. Smith also said press reports are leading to questions about whether foreign money from the school may have been directed to the Penn Biden Center, even though the center insists it ‘does not accept any contributions or gifts.’

‘Public reports have … raised questions about foreign direct investment in the University of Pennsylvania and the relationship between those investments and the creation of the Penn Biden Center,’ Smith wrote in a letter co-signed by Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C.

‘The timing of the Center’s creation along with the reported increase in foreign investment appears to coincide with members of President Biden’s family seeking business opportunities in China,’ the letter added.

The letter asked specifically how the university and the center are related legally and what percentage of the center’s annual expenses came from the university. It then asked for information about investments the university has in three ‘adversarial entities’ that are on U.S. government restricted lists.

Last year, the university told Republicans that it has three investments in entities on those lists, and Smith’s letter asked the university to identify those entities. It also asked the university whether it has any investments in the six Chinese entities that were added to these restricted lists after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew across the country this year.

The GOP letter is a continuation of a probe into Biden’s arrangement with the Penn Biden Center. Biden was paid about $900,000 in the roughly two years he was there before his 2020 presidential run, and the letter appears to be seeking data that might help Republicans determine whether China or other foreign nations were signing Biden’s checks.

A Ways and Means Committee statement released Wednesday said the letter makes the point that Biden ‘appears to have been paid by university funds during his tenure at the Penn Biden Center during a period in which new questions have arisen about a range of issues, including foreign investment at the university … and the Biden family’s attempted business dealings in China.’

The Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., came under public scrutiny earlier this year when it was revealed that classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president were discovered in a locked closet there.

Biden had used the center for a private office for some years until he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. The files were found in November but not made public knowledge until early January.

The GOP letter also questioned why the university has made no apparent effort to divest from its questionable holdings.

‘In addition, the University’s June 23, 2022, response did not indicate any plans to divest, nor did it identify the entities that held such investments,’ the letter stated.

Republicans are demanding that university officials respond to the letter by March 28, outlining any efforts to divest from concerning investments and providing more information on the legal relationship between the D.C. think tank and the Ivy League school.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Penn Biden Center and the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back from either.

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said Wednesday that he disagreed with the Biden administration’s move to end border wall construction in early 2021, while arguing that infrastructure would help agents do their job.

Ortiz spoke at a Homeland Security Committee hearing in McAllen, Texas, and was asked by Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., about whether he supported wall construction, which had expanded dramatically under the Trump administration but was abruptly halted when President Biden entered office.

‘I do not believe in a wall from sea to shining sea, but I do believe in infrastructure and barrier systems in concentrated areas, especially urban areas,’ Ortiz said. ‘And it’s always been our practice, from 2006 when I was an agent in charge in West Texas to now. But I also don’t agree that we should tear down perfectly good barrier system to install something that is based upon requirements that we developed over the last few years.’

Ortiz said that Customs and Border Protection had ‘tore down perfectly good infrastructure system in some areas that we should have just left alone’ in places like Del Rio, Texas.

Brecheen followed up by asking Ortiz specifically about the wall that had been appropriated by the Trump administration but was then canceled by the Biden administration.

‘Under the prior administration, we had 200-plus miles of wall appropriated and…President Biden by executive order shut that down,’ he said. ‘Do you disagree with his decision to shut down construction?’

‘Yes, sir,’ Ortiz responded.

Ortiz was also asked if he supports the ‘Remain-in-Mexico’ policy — a Trump-era policy shut down by the Biden administration which kept migrants in Mexico for their hearings — and he responded that he ‘supports any policy that’s going to allow us to repatriate individuals back to their home countries.’ 

The remarks came in a hearing during which Ortiz told lawmakers that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not have operational control of the border.

He also backed agents who had been accused falsely of whipping Haitian migrants in 2021, and also suggested that policies were in place that were damaging Border Patrol’s ability to do their job.

Meanwhile, DHS said that the hearing ‘highlights the vital work the Department of Homeland Security does every day to enforce our laws, secure our border, and combat cartels and smugglers’ and pointed to testimony from Ortiz and other witnesses that showed ‘new programs, technology, and investments are making a real impact.’ 

‘Despite inheriting a dismantled immigration system and facing unprecedented migration that is affecting nations throughout the Western Hemisphere, this administration has surged resources to the border, reducing the number of encounters between ports of entry, disrupting more smuggling operations than ever before, and interdicting more drugs in the last two years than had been stopped in the five years prior,’ a spokesperson said.

‘The Department welcomes input from Congress, and looks forward to working with members on legislative solutions for our broken immigration system, which Congress has not reformed for more than 40 years.’

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., shared some good news on Wednesday amid his weeks-long recovery from a devastating ladder fall at his Sarasota home earlier this year.

‘I’m happy to report my doctor has cleared me to fly. I am looking forward to returning to D.C. later this month!’ Steube wrote on Twitter, announcing he would be returning to in-person work at the Capitol.

Steube was seriously injured in the 25-foot fall while doing yard work on Jan. 18 and was rushed to Sarasota Memorial’s intensive care unit, where he spent the following four days being treated for his injuries.

During an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends’ in January, Steube attributed his inability to fly to a punctured lung he sustained from the fall

A delivery driver named Darrell Woodie witnessed Steube’s fall and called 911 for help. Woodie said he went to Steube’s house to congratulate him on his recent election victory, but instead saw the fall. He told the dispatcher he didn’t think anyone else was home because only the congressman’s dogs came to the door.

Steube later saluted Woodie for being a Good Samaritan, and both attributed the positive outcome of the situation to ‘God’s grace.’

‘God’s hand was all over this,’ Steube said during an appearance on Fox News in February. ‘I just want to thank Woodie for healing the Word of God and being obedient to the Word.’

Steube was released from the hospital on Jan. 22, and spent the last few weeks recovering at home while working remotely. 

Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.